


multi-tasking

by helsinkibaby



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: F/M, Het, Pre Relationship, Set post season 7 finale, Sickness, Steve is a proud uncle, mentions of Joanie and Mary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24721867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: It happens so quickly that Steve can’t make any excuses. One minute he’s getting an autopsy report, the next, everything he’s eaten for the last twenty four hours is making a reappearance.
Relationships: Noelani Cunha/Steve McGarrett
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	multi-tasking

**Author's Note:**

> Set post season 7 finale, dealing with the effects of Steve’s radiation poisoning.

It happened so quickly that Steve didn't have time to make any excuses. 

One moment he was in Noelani's autopsy lab - without a partner, his one piece of luck for the last little while - listening to her as she described her findings. 

The next he was doubled over at the sink in the corner as everything he'd eaten for the previous twenty four hours made a sudden and violent reappearance. 

He couldn't say for how long the episode lasted, but when he was finished, working on being able to stand up straight, a paper towel appeared beside his hand, a paper cup of water beside it. "Thanks," he croaked, peeling his white knuckles from their death grip on the counter and wiping his mouth first with the back of his hand, then the paper towel. After rinsing out his mouth with the water, he washed his hands slowly and thoroughly, trying to figure out exactly how to explain this. It wasn’t the first time that Noelani had helped out Five-0 in a medical emergency - she’d stitched up Harry Brown’s head wound, she’d pulled a bullet out of Sang Min in Steve’s own living room - he still feels bad when he thinks about the look of disgust on her face as Sang Min had bestowed the nickname “Sweet Cheeks” on her - but this was something else. 

He was still trying to figure it out when he turned around, saw Noelani standing at the other end of the autopsy table, obviously trying to give him some privacy but not willing to leave him completely alone either. He pressed his lips together, stomach churning in a way not related to nausea and she crossed her arms over her chest, lifted one eyebrow. "Somehow, I don't think it was my autopsy report that prompted that." 

There was almost a smile in her voice, like she was using humour to deflect from the awkwardness of the moment. Steve appreciated that. 

Noelani's eyes narrowed and she took a step forward. "It's not the first time this has happened either, is it? At Jerry's party last week, you came out of the bathroom looking white as a sheet..." 

Steve took a deep breath, let it out slowly. "That's right." He hadn't realised anyone had noticed. 

Her narrowed eyes shifted to a full blown frown. "Steve, you need to see a doctor."

"I have." She blinked at that, the words taking the wind out of her sails a little and, if he had to be honest, his too. He'd only told Danny because the other man had caught him coming out of the bathroom at the party, hadn't intended on telling anyone else. But Noelani was staring at him with the same kind of stubborn expression that he was used to seeing on Danny's face, the one that said she wasn't going to let go of this until she found out what she wanted to know. "I have... I have radiation poisoning."

Her jaw dropped. "Steve..."

"A mild dose," he added hurriedly, lest she think he was about to drop on the spot. "Apparently, it's what happens when you disarm a nuclear bomb with only a lead car battery strapped to your chest." Her expression didn't change; she obviously didn't appreciate his attempt at levity. "Look, I'm on meds, my doctor says I'm going to be fine..." He didn't mention the later in life prognosis, she probably already knew it. 

"DTPA?" she asked and he had to think for a second. 

"Sounds right," he told her. "Something with a lot of letters." 

She actually scoffed at that, rolled her eyes heavenward for good measure. "You shouldn't be working," she told him and he shrugged. 

"So I've been told. But I figure as long as I can stand, right?" He took a step away from the sink and, in one of life's supreme ironies, his legs actually wobbled underneath him. That hadn't happened to him since his days in BUD/S.

"Okay, let's get you sitting down." With more strength than he would have given her credit for, given her stature, Noelani managed to move him through the door into her office, closing the door firmly behind her. Once she got him sitting down in the chair beside her desk, she moved away, telling him, "Stay there." Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose, the short walk having left black spots dancing around the edge of his vision and he concentrated on the sounds he could hear; her feet moving across the floor, the sound of metal doors opening and closing, glass clinking, a piece of paper tearing. 

He opened his eyes again at a gentle touch on his arm. "Here." Noelani was kneeling beside the chair, a bottle of water in her hand. "Drink this. It has a rehydrating solution in it... it'll replace what you lost back there."

Steve accepted it gratefully, took a small sip, then another. "Thanks," he said. "I'll get out of your way..." 

He tried to stand up but she wasn't having any of it. "Sit down, Commander." Her voice was like steel and so unlike the voice he was used to that he sat back down out of sheer surprise. "You're going to stay here until every drop of that is gone - slow sips, before you get any ideas - and then I'm going to take your blood pressure and then I might let you leave." 

"Noelani, that's really not necessary-"

"Oh, I think it is." Still, that steel tone to her voice. "But if you don't want my help, I can call Detective Williams and get him down here to escort you out." 

Steve definitely did not want that. Danny would never let him hear the end of it. "Okay, okay..." He held up a hand and pretended not to see the flash of a smile that crossed Noelani's lips, disappearing just as quickly. 

"You just sit there," she said, going around to the other side of the desk. "I have some paperwork to do." She tapped her keyboard and he nodded, looked around the room, drinking his water in silence.

He only lasted for a few minutes - a man who'd had Danny Williams as their partner for seven years was not used to sitting in silence. 

"You know, I've had drill sergeants who don't have the snap in their voice you just did," he told her. "Where'd you learn that?" 

She gave him a look, lifting one eyebrow. "I'm a woman of colour who stands five feet even, who made it through med school, residency and a forensic pathology fellowship," she said flatly. "You think you're the first big strong man who didn't want to listen to me?" 

"Ah." He took another sip as if to prove that he actually was. Maybe she knew that too because her lips twitched. 

"One of the last patients I treated in my residency was a six foot seven biker who was refusing to listen to anyone," she told him and the visual that created made his eyes bug out. "They sent for me on purpose because they knew I was the only one who'd get him under control."

Steve was genuinely impressed. "I will remember that the next time we need to interrogate one of those guys." 

"Pass." Noelani wrinkled her nose. "I'm quite happy where I am, thank you." 

She looked back to her computer then, fingers flying over the keys and Steve relaxed back into his chair, just watching her work. After a couple of minutes, his phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket, expecting it to be an update from Lou, or a "Where the hell are you?" from Danny. 

Instead, what he saw made him chuckle. 

When he looked up again, Noelani was looking at him curiously. "What?" he asked and she tilted her head before she answered.

"I know it's not work," she said. "You wouldn't be smiling like that if it was."

"You act like you've never seen me smile before." 

"Not like that." The words were a zinger, even if she didn't mean them to be, and he felt himself freeze. She froze right along with him, her jaw going slack. "I didn't mean-"

"Actually, you're right." He could admit that much. "My sister, Mary... she just sent me a photograph of my niece." He turned the phone around so she could see the screen. "She, ah... she had her first ballet recital last night." The photograph showed Joanie, wearing a pink tutu as wide as her smile, blonde hair pulled back into a bun, wispy strands framing her face in a golden halo. 

Noelani leaned over her desk to better see the photo, a smile lighting up her face. “Oh, she’s precious,” she said and Steve grinned, his proud uncle side coming out. 

“Yeah, she’s pretty cute,” he said, pushing aside the memory of Aunt Deb driving his truck and Joanie shouting “Puke, puke, puke,” at him from the back seat. Today’s performance had been embarrassing enough without going for a repeat. “Although she wasn’t when I spent the entire day carrying her on shoulders around Honolulu Zoo and she kept pulling my ears to tell me which direction to go.” Noelani laughed at that just as his phone buzzed again. “Oh, she’s just sent a video... don’t worry, I won’t make you watch it.” 

“You couldn’t go to the recital?” 

He shook his head. “They live in LA,” he said. “They don’t get out here much.” 

Noelani’s gaze was thoughtful as she looked at him. “You should go see them,” she suggested, her voice light but he could tell what she was getting at and he shook his head straight away. 

“Maybe later,” he said before adding, off her questioning look, “once all this is over.” Her gaze was steady on his and he was the one who looked down, picking at the label of the bottle. “I don’t want them to see me like this.” 

Saying the words out loud surprised him because he hadn’t meant to. Noelani, however, didn't blink. “You take care of them, they don’t take care of you?” 

Steve smiled. She’d seen right through him. “Something like that.” He raised his bottle to his lips, took another sip. It was almost half empty. "What about you? Any brothers or sisters?"

Her ponytail swayed as she shook her head. "One and only," she told him. "I grew up on Maui... Mom and Dad are still over there. I get over when I can." 

There was an ambivalent tone in her voice suddenly and he recognised _that_ well enough. "You don't get along?"

She blinked in obvious surprise, then she shrugged. "They didn't exactly agree with my career choices," was all she said, looking around the room, her eyes lingering on the door that led to her lab. "They think it's weird that I spend my time with dead people."

"Well, for what it's worth..." Steve let his voice trail off, kept his eyes on her, didn't speak until she was looking at him . "I think we're lucky to have you." 

The blush that spread across her cheeks was instant, the smile on her lips was nothing short of brilliant. "Thank you, Commander," she said and he chuckled. 

"Noelani, you've just taken care of me after seeing me puke into a sink... I think you can call me Steve."

"Fair enough." That smile was still as brilliant, the blush faded a little, but no less charming for that. Which was a thought that made him blink - where had _that_ come form? "How's that water going?"

He held it up, waggling the bottle he'd been sipping from throughout their talk. "Nearly there."

"And how are you feeling? No nausea, dizziness?"

He took a longer pull of the drink this time. "I'm good." She still looked sceptical. "I promise." Noelani pressed her lips together, made a little humming sound. "You've been hanging around Danny Williams too long."

"Maybe I've just heard him talk about how stubborn you are one too many times," Noelani retorted and he couldn't help himself, his eyebrows went all the way up. 

"I'm seeing a whole new side to you right now," he told her. Then, after considering it for only a moment, "I think I like it." 

Noelani quirked an eyebrow again. "Flattery won't get you out of here if your blood pressure is low," she told him, opening her desk drawer and pulling out a blood pressure monitor and approaching him. "Can you roll up that sleeve a little?" she asked and the cuff was on in no time, her brow furrowing as she did her thing, relaxing as she looked at the glass. 

"Well? Will I live?"

He regretted the quip when something flickered in her eyes but she recovered quickly. "You're fine," she told him. "Keep taking the DTPA, stay hydrated... I can give you some of those rehydrating powders to take with you, just in case... but you really should try to take it easy." 

"I will." Except they both knew that that probably wasn't going to happen. She dropped the monitor on the table as he drained the last of the water and slowly, carefully, stood up, trying to pretend he didn't know that she was watching him like a hawk, waiting for any signs of unsteadiness. Thankfully, his legs remained supportive, his vision clear. Maybe more clear than it had been in quite a while, he thought. "Hey, you want to grab some dinner later?"

Surprise stamped itself all over her face and he was very tempted to play it off as a gratitude thing, a friends thing. He kept his mouth shut, relied on his SEAL training to stay quiet. "You don't have to-" she began and then he cut across her. 

"I know. But I would like to." He shrugged. "I enjoyed talking to you like this. I would like to talk to you some more." A pause, just in case she wasn't interested. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. "You know... without the dead body and the puking and the doctoring..."

She looked down, shoulders shaking with silent laughter and when she looked back up at him through her lashes, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, he found himself grateful that she wasn't monitoring his vital signs just then. The readings would have been all over the place. "I would like that too," she said softly. "You can pick me up at eight... I'll text you my address." 

Steve nodded, a smile spreading across his face. "I will see you then." Just then, his phone began to ring, Danny's name appearing on the display. "Timing," he muttered and she grinned, took a step back. 

"I'll see you at eight," she said and he didn't take his eyes off her as he walked backwards towards the door, pressing a button on the phone and holding it to his ear. 

Danny didn't even let him say hello. "Where are you?" he demanded. "I thought you were going to talk to Noelani, what, you fell down a hole and got lost somewhere?" 

"Something like that." Steve grinned as the door swung shut behind him at his last sight of Noelani, her hands over her lips, her shoulders shaking - Danny was not quiet. 

So when Danny followed up with, "Why can I hear you smiling? What have you been doing when you should have been getting our autopsy report?"

Steve smiled, remembering a years ago conversation, a different woman, a different setting, but the same outcome. "Multi-tasking."


End file.
